Measuring-reel



(No Model.)

H. L. STULL. MEASURING REEL.

No. 475,630. Patented May 24, 1892.

WITNESSES Q) A TTOR/VEYS.

ms mums ersus co, mum-mum, WAENINGION, o. c.

UNITED STATES PAT NT @EFICE.

HERBERT LEWIS STULL, OF STODDARTSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

I MEASURING-REEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 75,630, dated May 24, 1892.

Application filed June 2'7, 1891. Serial No. 397,686. (No model.)

' act description.

My invention relates to cloth-measuring machines; and the object of my invention is to provide a machine which is especially adapted for measuring cloth in the web and of automatically registering the length of cloth measured.

To this end my invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed. 7

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is an end view of the machine, partly in section, on line 1 1 in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2 2 in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view showing the dial in front elevation.

The machine is provided with a case 1 0, which has at one end a projecting nozzle 11, through which the measuring-cord extends, and at the opposite end of the case it is formed at one side into a cylinder 12, which carries the registering mechanism. \Vithin the case and opposite the registering mechanism is a spool 13, which is adapted to carry a measuring-cord l4, and this cord is extended out through the nozzle 11, and when it is withdrawn it turns the spool and the shaft to which the spool is secured. This shaft 15 is provided with a pinion 16, which meshes with a gear-wheel 17, and the shaft of this gearwheel is provided with a pinion 18, which meshes with a gear-wheel 19, and this gear- Wheel is provided with a coil-spring 21, one end of which is secured to the hub of the gear-wheel 19 and the opposite end of which is secured to the case 10. Consequently when the gear-wheel 19 is revolved on its shaft 20 in one direction it will wind up the spring 21, and when the winding pressure is removed from the gear-wheel the spring will turn it back in the reverse direction. The gear-wheel 19, and consequently the entire mechanism of the machine, is normally kept locked, so that it will not wind up the cord 14 by a springpressed ratchet-pin 22, which engages the .teeth of the gear-wheel 19, and this pin is provided with a finger-bolt 23, which projects outward through a slot 24 in the case 10, and when the machine is to be operated to wind up the cord 14 on the spool 13 the finger-bolt 23 is pushed back, so as to release the pin 22 and permit the wheel 19 to be turned by the spring.

One end of the main shaft 15 is provided with a screw 25, which meshes with a wheel 26, and the latter carries a pinion 27, which meshes with a gear-wheel 28, said wheel being mounted centrally in the cylindrical portion 12 of the case. This wheel 28 has projecting pins 29, which mesh with the teeth on the registering-wheel 30, which is arranged just inside the dial 31 and which is provided with a series of numbers running in the drawings from O to 9 and. corresponding to the numbers of concentric circles arranged on the face of the dial. The number of circles on the dial and the corresponding numbers on the wheel 30 are not arbitrary, however, and it is obvious that they may run up to any desired point.

r The dial 31 is provided on one side with an opening 32, which registers with the numbers on the wheel 30, and the gear mechanism which turns the wheel 30 is timed in such a way that the said wheel 30 will move a distance corresponding to the space between two of the numbers thereon every time the wheel 28 and the indicating-hand 33, carried by the shaft of the wheel, makes a complete revolution. The face of the dial is provided with a series of concentric, or rather spiral, lines, on which the number of yards corresponding to the entire length of the measuring-cord is placed. These numbers read consecutively from the outer portion of the dial to a point near the center, and it will be noticed by reference to Fig. 3 that each line is numbered. When the cord 1.4 is withdrawn from the case, it will turn the shaft 15, and the connectinggearing will turn the registering-wheel 30 and the indicating-hand 33. I will suppose that the cord has been withdrawn until the registering-wheel and indicating-hand assume the position shown in Fig. 3. The number 5 ICO of the registering-wheel then appears in the opening 32 of the dial, and this will indicate that the hand has been turned five times and that the number of yards registered will be found in the fifth line on the dial, and as these lines are all numbered it will be seen by referrin g to the dial that thirty-three yards and a little more havebeenmeasured. If desired, the rim of the dial may be divided into spaces representing any desired fraction of a yard, so that the registering mechanism may operate with great exactness. The indicatinghand and the dial are preferably protected by a glass 34, as shown in Fig. 1.

The machine is operated as follows: When the web of cloth is to be measured, the nozzle 11 is inserted betweentwo layers of the cloth at the outer end of the latter, and the cord is held firmly in place while the nozzleis passed around and around the web between the successive layers of cloth until the board on which the cloth is wound is reached. It will thus be seen that as the cord is wound around every part of the cloth the cloth will be accurately measured, and said measurement will be indicated on the dial in the manner described. After the measurement has been.

noted the spring-pin 22 is pushed back and the spring 21 will turn the gear mechanism and the spool 13 and rewind the measuringcord upon the spool.

I do not confine myself to the use of the mechanism described for locking and releasing the gearing, and it is obvious that the registering-wheel and the gear mechanism driving it may be differently arranged witl1- out departing from the principle of my invention.

The construction of the case renders the machine especially applicable to measuring cloth, as the nozzle may be easily inserted between the layers of the same; but it is obvious that the machine may be used for making measurements of almost any kind.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. A measuringmachine comprising a case, a spool mounted in the case and having a measuring-cord, an indicating-wheel 30, driven from the spool, a dial parallel with said wheel, having an aperture through which the numbers on the wheel are successively visible and having its face provided with a spiral line having a scale, as described, and an indicating-hand, substantially as setforth.

2. A cloth-measuring machine comprising a case, a spool mounted therein and carryin g a measuring-cord which extends outward through the case, an indicating-register driven by the spool, and a spring-propelled shaft parallel with the axis of the spool and geared thereto by a train of multiplying gearing for rewinding the spool, substantially as described.

3. A cloth-measuring machine comprising a case, a spool mounted therein and carrying a measuring-cord which extends outward V thro ugh the case, an indicatin g-register driven indicating-hand held to revolve on the dial, a

gear mechanism for driving the hand by the movement of the spool, and a numbered registering-wheel driven by the gear mechanism and having its numbers adapted to register with the aperture in the dial, said wheel being arranged to move the distance ofa space between its figures at every revolution of the indicating-hand, substantially as described.

HERBERT LEWIS STULL.

Witnesses: 1

THEO. H. MCALLA, JAMES P. BOYD. 

